> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://justincox.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Write Now with Patricia Ricketts - URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2022/05/write-now-with-patricia-ricketts/ - Published: 2022-05-04T11:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2023-06-16T23:40:40.000Z - Description: Patricia Ricketts begins her mornings with a journal falling “through the cracks of reason into a fanciful world of dreams and possibilities.” - Author: Justin Cox - Tags: Interview, #patricia-ricketts **It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of [daily journaling](https://justincox.com/blog/2021/06/write-every-day-with-siri-shortcuts-and-day-one/). It helps me process my day, explore ideas, and practice writing. While I journal every evening, Patricia Ricketts begins her mornings with a journal. It’s in those pages she begins falling “through the cracks of reason into a fanciful world of dreams and possibilities.” Isn’t that fantastic?! I hope you enjoy Patricia’s Write Now interview. Visit [her website](https://patriciajricketts.com/?ref=justincox.com) to learn more about her debut novel,* Speed of Dark**, available now.* --- ## Who Are You? My name is Patricia Ricketts, and I live in Chicago, IL, in a lovely neighborhood called Lincoln Square. Currently, I am an author and a singer-songwriter; however, I was a high school AP English teacher for thirty years. Retired. Yep. And yay. ## What Do You Write? I love writing. Just gotta do it. Having taught English lit and comp, I have been immersed in diction and cadence, syntax and sound… **forever* it seems. But having recently retired, I now have the time to write topical blogs, lengthy emails, poetry \[good and less-so\], song lyrics, short fiction pieces, personal narratives, and… yes, novels. I began writing in early high school and used to read my pieces to my mom as she prepared dinner in the kitchen \[which was one way to get out of helping\]. I don’t think there’s a theme or topic I would avoid; my characters’ lives dictate what needs to be addressed. My writing is best when the spirit takes over, and my logical brain gets out of the way. I could tell you about Nona Concetta just showing up on the Metra… ## Where Do You Write? Ok, call me old-fashioned, but I often start journaling in a Flame Tree notebook with my Cross pen. In the mornings, of course, in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee. First, I “scat,” which often degenerates into mundane grocery lists or to-do priorities. But then, oh then, something takes over, and I fall through the cracks of reason into a fanciful world of dreams and possibilities — for characters or plotlines or bits of dialogue. And I inspire myself to head to my computer on the dining room table where my next chapter awaits me. ## When Do You Write? I’m mostly a morning writer with no set time, but if I get cooking, I could be writing all day. Sometimes without eating lunch, which is a real shocker for me, a three-squares-a-day woman. While I really like assignments \[hey, I taught high school for thirty years!\], for example, the prompts given during my sessions with the Wesley Writers’ Workshop group in Evanston, I find that warming up in my journal gives me the spark to create songs, or poems, or the start of a new chapter. ## Why Do You Write? Because I **have* to. I feel like I’m not getting enough oxygen if I haven’t written for a few days. Seriously. Motivation and inspiration come from deep-seated beliefs I want to share. Like ecological concerns. Or that we can “get by with a little help from our friends” \[OK, you got me: I just watched The Beatles doc “Get Back”\]. Or that Black Lives Matter. Which they do. You get the drift. So, finishing a piece, a poem, or even a novel is fueled by my desire to have others read what I’ve laid down. ## How Do You Overcome Writer’s Block? Hai karate comes to mind. I mean it. I break that block with a piercing kick by writing, even badly, but writing. And I keep writing the drivel until a conflict, a setting, a description of a character will pop up through a crack in the rabble. And suddenly, I’m free-flying into something starting to feel worthy enough to print. ## Bonus: What Do You Enjoy Doing When Not Writing? A lot. In the summer, I swim in Lake Michigan, and I golf. I do yoga and meditate year-round. I read all the time. I sing, play guitar, and compose/write songs. Oh, and I do an occasional commercial, whether print, video, or VO in and around Chicago. --- **My thanks to Patricia Ricketts for today’s interview.*